Corn 84% Harvested, Soybeans 91% Harvested

Eighty-four percent of the U.S. corn crop has been harvested, up 5 percentage points above the 5-year average of 79%, USDA said Tuesday afternoon. That represents a jump of 11 percentage points over the previous week.

Of the 18 states that harvested 93% of the 2012 corn acreage, North Carolina is the only one to have completed its corn harvest. Texas is at 98% completion, followed by Illinois and Tennessee at 93% completion.

In soybeans, two of the 18 states that accounted for 95% of 2012 harvested acres are finished. They are Louisiana and Nebraska. Close behind them are Iowa and Minnesota, which have both completed 98% of their respective harvests.

"Harvest is winding down," wrote a farmer in Whitley County, Ind., on AgWeb's Crop Comments page. "A lot of corn was shelled this week. Our corn yield was at 159 and beans at 55. ... We need to figure all the acres planted when we come up with the yield. We had beans and corn the tallest I have ever seen. If we would have gotten a 2-inch rain in the middle of August, I'm sure our beans would have made another 10 to 15 more bushels. We are happy with our yields but hope for a better price for corn."

A Dallas County, Iowa, farmer noted that while yields weren't ideal, they were a pleasant surprise overall.

"Every acre failed to reach the 85% insurance level but were much better than I was expecting in August. Just going to pay storage and see what happens next spring."